Chapter 568: Li Luo's Discovery

The next day was New Year's Day.

Since the final exams, lasting three days, were scheduled to begin immediately after the holiday, Li Luo's six-person study group had agreed to rest and relax on the 1st, then gather here on the 2nd and 3rd to review for the tests.

Thus, after waking up early for his morning run, Li Luo took advantage of the leisurely 1st to ride in Xu Youyu's car and register for the driver's license examination.

Having previously used his spare time to imprint all knowledge and questions related to the driver's license into his Memory Palace, he registered for and smoothly passed the Subject One exam that very day.

He then scheduled his Subject Two test for the following week.

"You still have school next week; where will you find the time to practice the content for Subject Two?" Xu Youyu asked involuntarily while driving Li Luo home.

"Rest assured, it will be fine," Li Luo said from the passenger seat.

In his previous life, he had often driven Xu Youyu's car; with the Memory Palace at his disposal, driving was an exceedingly simple matter.

Yet Xu Youyu remained uneasy, frowning as she warned, "This is driving, not bumper cars in an amusement park; pay attention to your safety."

"With an instructor beside me to pull the handbrake, you can rest easy," Li Luo replied, then shifted the topic: "Has the editor mentioned the annual meeting to you yet?"

"Yes," Xu Youyu nodded while driving. "This time it's in Tianhe City."

"Since winter break will have started by then, I'll just take Xixi and Zhusheng along?"

"Hmph." Upon hearing he intended to bring Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng, Xu Youyu immediately pursed her lips. "Bring them, bring them; you're the best at enjoying yourself."

"Sister Youyu, do you want some alone time with just the two of us?" Li Luo asked with a smile, turning his head and taking Xu Youyu's small hand as she drove into the Bihai Lanting residential compound and parked the car.

"Remove your stinky hand," Xu Youyu spat, undoing her seatbelt before opening the door and stepping out. "Let's go; we're home."

"I thought you might want to stay in the car a little longer."

"Should I then call Xixi and Zhusheng down so all four of us can sit in the car together?"

"Are you jealous?"

"Who would be jealous of you?" Xu Youyu shot him a glance and walked straight toward the building entrance.

Li Luo got out of the car and quickly caught up, entering the elevator; he nudged Xu Youyu with his arm, only for her to shift two steps away, putting distance between them.

"Then perhaps we shouldn't bring the two of them this time?" Li Luo suggested. "Just the two of us going."

"I never said you couldn't bring them," Xu Youyu said, striving to keep her face stern and feigning indifference.

"I also want to have some alone time with Sister Youyu," Li Luo said, moving closer to Xu Youyu again and gently wrapping his arms around her slender waist.

Seeing she no longer pulled away, he pulled her firmly into his embrace and kissed her.

At this, Xu Youyu could no longer maintain her pretense; she buried her head in Li Luo's chest, giggling secretly, feeling a touch of happiness in her heart.

It was not that she failed to understand sharing or insisted on monopolizing Li Luo forever.

It was simply that, thinking about New Year's Eve, both Xixi and Zhusheng would be able to stay by Li Luo's side, while she would have to wait two more days before seeing him.

And then recalling how last year she had traveled alone with Li Luo to Qiongzhou City, spending a truly wonderful time together.

Even her first kiss had been given to Li Luo during that trip.

Therefore, whenever the annual meeting approached, Xu Youyu strongly desired to arrange another private rendezvous with Li Luo, wishing for no one else to disturb them.

"So, did the Great God Nominee editor tell you anything?" Li Luo asked as he led Xu Youyu out when the elevator doors opened, suddenly remembering the matter. "I recall your new book has already reached ten thousand subscriptions, correct?"

"No luck for now~" Xu Youyu sighed helplessly, spreading her hands. "They had to submit the preliminary list of Great God candidates by mid-November, with voting results announced in December; I missed the window."

"It's alright," Li Luo said, patting her hand to comfort her. "Next year, you will definitely make it."

"But you are becoming a Platinum Author this year," Xu Youyu pouted, then glanced at Li Luo and snorted. "Now I am merely a tiny LV5, while you are a dignified Platinum Author; there is already an abyss between us."

"Is that so?"

Li Luo reached out, pressing her against the door of their home and holding her tightly. "Let me see where this abyss lies? Is it here? Indeed, this is an abyss."

"W-where are you touching?! Mmph..."

After fussing about for quite some time outside the apartment door, the two finally retrieved their keys, opened the door, and entered the home.

At this moment, Yan Zhusheng was practicing the piano in the music room.

Ying Chanxi was in her own bedroom, reading and studying.

Since it was currently afternoon and Li Luo and Xu Youyu had nothing else to do, they simply returned to their respective rooms to write.

As evening approached, all four gathered to go out and buy groceries, then returned home to cook together.

Ever since Li Luo's birthday, when Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu had both tried their hand at cooking, the two had developed a certain interest in the activity.

However, their talent in this regard was truly not high; managing to master just one or two of their best dishes was already a great success.

Even so, this saved Li Luo a considerable amount of trouble.

The four of them crowded into the kitchen to cook together, occasionally making a commotion, and time passed quickly.

By 6:30 in the evening, they had finally prepared a lavish spread of dishes.

After dinner, Li Luo and Xu Youyu resumed their writing.

Since it was still too early for their evening showers, neither Ying Chanxi nor Yan Zhusheng had come to ask Li Luo to dry their hair.

Ying Chanxi had cut some fruit and brought it to him, additionally refilling his water cup with warm water, before departing without further disturbance.

It was only after Li Luo finished writing a chapter, leaned back in his chair to stretch, and reached for another sip of water that he realized his cup was empty.

Usually, Ying Chanxi would switch out of her study state every half hour to rest briefly, taking the opportunity to refill his water.

Yet this time, she had not come over.

Li Luo stood up, took his cup, and walked out of the bedroom to refill it himself.

Passing by Ying Chanxi's room, he noticed the door was open but saw no sign of Ying Chanxi herself.

Xu Youyu's door was closed; she was likely still writing.

Neither Yan Zhusheng's bedroom nor the living room contained anyone.

Thus, after filling his water, Li Luo went straight to the door of the music room, intending to knock and enter for a look.

However, just as he reached the doorway, he faintly heard the sound of hushed conversation emanating from within.

Originally, Li Luo had no intention of eavesdropping and planned to push the door open directly.

But as he approached the doorway, he seemed to hear Ying Chanxi mention something about "Dad" and "Mom," so his steps halted; he withdrew his hand from the doorknob and silently pressed his ear against the door.

The sounds from inside the piano room gradually became clearer.

"Chinese New Year is coming soon; this is an established fact, and it's useless whether you accept it or not," Yan Zhusheng's voice came from within.

"Of course I know it's a fact," Ying Chanxi's voice followed, "just like how you sleep in Li Luo's bed every day now."

"Xixi," Yan Zhusheng said, likely lifting her head to look straight at Ying Chanxi, perhaps tilting her head slightly, "are you jealous?"

"I'm not jealous at all," Ying Chanxi clenched her fists, stubborn as ever, "what do I have to be jealous about?"

"Then why don't you agree to let my mom and your dad be together?" Yan Zhusheng countered.

"Are these two things the same?" Ying Chanxi bit her lip, "That's not the point at all."

"Then what is?" Yan Zhusheng asked again, "I don't really understand either; why are you so resistant? Is there something wrong with my mom?"

"Aunt Yuan is certainly very good too... but... but..." Ying Chanxi clasped her hands tightly, holding her breath, her tone carrying a hint of grievance, "but what about my mom?" "If Auntie knew about this, do you think she would refuse?" Yan Zhusheng asked again, "If Li Luo and I were husband and wife, and I died, I wouldn't mind if Li Luo married Xixi or Senior Sister."

Ying Chanxi: "...?"

Li Luo: "..."

Standing at the door, Li Luo listened to the exchange between Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng; first, he was shocked that the two of them had already known about the relationship between Ying Zhicheng and Yuan Wanqing.

Then, he marveled at Yan Zhusheng's miraculous train of thought, which had even left Ying Chanxi speechless.

"Actually, Xixi just feels that whether it's Uncle Ying or Li Luo, they are your own things, belonging exclusively to you," Yan Zhusheng suddenly added, "so once someone else wants to share them with you, you get anxious."

"I don't!" Ying Chanxi denied outright, "Zhusheng, don't talk nonsense! I never thought anything like that!"

"Then why are you so hung up on this matter?" Yan Zhusheng pressed, "Do you feel like my mom stole your dad away?"

"But conversely, I could also say that your dad stole my mom away."

"Then what do you think would be right?"

!

It had to be said that Li Luo rarely saw Yan Zhusheng like this.

Even in his previous life, he had never seen her so articulate and eloquent.

Or perhaps girls become completely different people when chatting privately?

After all, Ying Chanxi's somewhat agitated state at this moment was also quite rare normally.

However, very soon, Li Luo fell into another dilemma.

Should he tell Ying Zhicheng and the others about this in advance or not?

Logically speaking, since Ying Zhicheng and Yuan Wanqing usually didn't come over to their place, there shouldn't be much risk of exposure.

He didn't know when exactly they had been found out.

Old Ying was really something.

They had agreed to confess only after university, yet he couldn't resist bringing someone home during Chinese New Year.

And he was always finding opportunities to meet Yuan Wanqing in secret.

Now look what happened.

His daughter knows everything.

Li Luo recalled the incident from when he was writing his novel, keeping it hidden from Ying Chanxi, only for her to throw a tantrum.

So at this moment, he could actually understand some of Ying Chanxi's subconscious thoughts.

Sometimes, one does not necessarily know oneself best.

Ying Chanxi herself might not have realized that she actually craves sufficient honesty from the people around her, without any cover-ups or concealments.

If, right when Ying Zhicheng and Yuan Wanqing first showed signs of something, he had proactively explained the situation to Ying Chanxi and sought his daughter's opinion, perhaps Ying Chanxi would have found it easier to accept.

However, things had reached this point; there was no turning back now.

Before Chinese New Year, he should find a time to clue Ying Zhicheng in first.

Since both Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng already knew, it was better to settle this early rather than continuing to hide and evade.

However.

Li Luo, who was pondering these matters, suddenly developed some new doubts in his heart.

Because based on his understanding of the situation between Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng from his previous life, he had never heard from his own parents any news suggesting a poor relationship between Ying Chanxi and Ying Zhicheng.

Instead, it was regarding Yan Zhusheng.

He had worked for her for nearly a year, yet he had never seen Yuan Wanqing come to visit her.

And she seemed to have never gone to visit Yuan Wanqing either.

The two sides seemed to have completely stopped contacting each other.

Li Luo could draw this conclusion firstly because he had lived in Yan Zhusheng's home back then, and secondly because during that Chinese New Year, Yan Zhusheng had spent the holiday entirely alone at home.

In the middle of the night, Li Luo had even returned from the hospital to her place and taken her to set off fireworks.

Not going home for Chinese New Year clearly indicated that contact with Yuan Wanqing had basically been severed.

But judging by the current situation, Yan Zhusheng seemed quite supportive of Yuan Wanqing remarrying?

Conversely, it was Ying Chanxi who seemed somewhat resistant to the matter.

This left Li Luo quite baffled, unclear about what exactly was going on here.

Could it be the butterfly effect triggered by his rebirth?

After thinking it over, Li Luo decided not to delve deeper into the reasons for now; hearing the arguing inside subside, he silently retreated, making his way all the way to Xu Youyu's room door.

He knocked on the door and pushed it open.

"Something wrong?" Xu Youyu asked, sitting cross-legged on her chair, still typing seriously on her computer.

Only upon hearing the sound of the door opening did she turn her head to ask.

"Hmm... I wanted to discuss something with you." Li Luo deliberated for a moment, then recounted the earlier events to Xu Youyu, "So I was thinking, should we bring those two along for the annual gathering? Maybe we can help them relax and, while we're at it, resolve any potential issues beforehand."

Upon hearing that their long-awaited time alone together was about to fall through again, Xu Youyu's entire face immediately drooped.

"Angry again?" Li Luo asked softly.

"What's there to be angry about?" Xu Youyu rolled her eyes, then suddenly grabbed Li Luo and pinned him down onto the bed, "But I need to collect some interest in advance!"

The next day, Zhao Rongjun and the other two arrived at Blue Sea Lan Ting, and the six-person study group officially commenced.

However, Ying Chanxi was clearly somewhat distracted.

As the time drew ever closer to the New Year's Eve celebration, she felt increasingly irritable.

Yet she concealed it quite well on the surface; apart from Li Luo and the others who knew the truth, Qiao Xinyan and her two companions failed to notice anything unusual about Ying Chanxi.

By lunchtime, Xu Yinghuan couldn't wait to say, "Our winter break starts on the 13th, and New Year's Eve is on the 27th."

"Didn't my dad mention during the parent-teacher meeting that he wanted to invite all of you over for a meal at our place?"

"So I was planning to set aside one day in between to invite you all to my home to hang out. What do you think, what do you think?"

Ying Chanxi actually lacked any enthusiasm.

But since she had already agreed previously, naturally she said nothing against it.

Li Luo nodded, but added, "We need to ask Uncle Ying and Aunt Yuan to see how their schedules look."

"Then you guys ask first," Xu Yinghuan said with a happy smile, "Once we confirm exactly when everyone is free and lock in a date, I'll go tell my dad."

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

After the New Year's Day holiday,

the final exams at Affiliated No. 1 High School began.

(End of Chapter)